Bexhill children meet Princess of Wales at relaunch of Anna Freud Centre

St Richard's had the honour of being invited to the relaunch of the Anna Freud Centre who support mental health and wellbeing in schools.

The school has had a long relationship with the centre and have been regularly trialling resources for them. As a school with strength in supporting pupil wellbeing, it was selected to work on the production of an animation to support pupils with anxiety.

Recognising that everyone will experience anxiety at times, the pupils focused on what they do in and outside of school to support them when they feel anxious.

The Princess of Wales commented on how impressed she was with the skills the pupils were displaying around supporting their wellbeing stating: “How many adults do you know who have these skills?” And that she left feeling ‘inspired and excited’ after viewing the new resources and speaking to the pupils.

Everyone who came in contact with the pupils remarked on their confidence, ability to articulate their thoughts and opinions and on what fantastic role models they are. The news has appeared all over the national press from the Telegraph to Hello Magazine and pupils have been delighted to see their photos, work and the school celebrated in this way.

The Anna Freud Centre has shared the following comment: “We are so grateful to the students and staff at St. Richard’s Catholic College who worked with us to co-create the ‘Let’s talk about anxiety’ animation and accompanying toolkit.

"The animation, aimed at students in the early years of secondary school, helps them to understand that anxiety is a normal emotion, as well as offering top tips for coping. In addition to using the students’ own voices and experiences within the content of the animation, some of them joined us for a special event at Anna Freud during Mental Health Awareness Week.

“We hope that these materials that we’ve co-produced with St. Richard’s will help to support many other young people with their mental wellbeing.”

St. RIchard’s has been accredited by the SSAT (the schools, students and teachers network) at TRANSFORMING level for their exceptional work on wellbeing. Mrs Bligh, Vice-Principal, of St Richard's was asked by the Anna Freud Centre to present the work on Wellbeing taking place in the school at a national online webinar on Monday.

Key to the school's work is the building of relationships, fostering an environment of care, making opportunities for deliberate practice around wellbeing by ensuring a broad and extensive extra-curricular offer and making sure that pupils always know there are adults in place who are ready to listen and to support them when needed.